Category Archives: Sustainability

This article is the first of a series of articles on design thinking and what we at CLC Advisors, LLC call “i.e.,” the “idea economy.”

This week alone, I traveled from one continent to another and down the eastern coast and back home again. All this air travel was made possible by the investment, research, and development in science and technology, some of which came from space research from NASA and the military. Some of that investment birthed technologies like satellites and GPS for air transport guidance, internet connectivity and the wide array of mobile apps on my smartphone to get me to my destinations, reminders, plane ticket bookings, wingtip technologies on the Boeing and Airbus planes, wind and jet stream resiliency for airplane stability, weather guidance for a smoother ride home, medical research on passenger comfort, and research on gravity to land safely on the ground to name a few on what tax payer dollars and investments in science, technology, and space years ago has provided for our technologies today.

This week culminated in some spending two days with IBM’s OS Earth group, a new think tank bringing together a group of designers, scientists, and coders, the more fashionable of names now for one who was a programmer mere decades ago. I was reminded again yesterday during our sessions of why we are often drawn to the impossible and tasked with finding those answers and solutions to burning questions. It is great leadership that can allow impossible to become possible and no matter who is sitting in an office in a city, territory, or country near you, that progress cannot be stifled.

“Newton explored the meaning of gravity. Last month electric lights and telephones and automobiles and airplanes became available. Only last week did we develop penicillin and television and nuclear power, and now if America’s spacecraft succeeds in reaching Venus, we will have literally reached the stars before midnight tonight.

This is a breathtaking pace, and such a pace cannot help but create new ills as it dispels old, new ignorance, new problems, new dangers. Surely the opening vistas of space promise high costs and hardships, as well as high reward.

So it is not surprising that some would have us stay where we are a little longer to rest, to wait. But this city of Houston, this state of Texas, this country of the United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by those who moved forward — and so will space.”
– President John F. Kennedy, Jr.

As I watched a program hosted by Morgan Freeman on wormhole theories, I was also reminded that time does not always move linearly. Einstein in his theory of relativity proved that time sometimes folds and we see patterns of repetitiveness. This is one of those times, but no matter what, it is always fluid. So, take this time to move to the past for a little over 17 minutes to one of the greatest and inspirational leaders with whom we had too short of time with, but in that short time inspired a generation and the ripple effects of an incredible era of invention, innovation, new industries, humanity, and wealth creation. Believe me, it is worth those 17 minutes of time to hear those presidential words again.

The broad advancements in science in the areas of climate change, earth science, research and development, mathematics, and technology are still necessary and to echo White House Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith, “not a charity case, but a prosperity case.” It is all hands on deck and imperative for the survival of many species on this Spaceship Earth.

If you are an entrepreneur or startups who are working on climate change, aerospace, data science your own Mars Shot, or market entry into the United States, our team at CLC Advisors, LLC can help you. Contact us to find out more information or go to our website www.clcadvisors.com.

About CLC Advisors, LLCCLC Advisors, LLC is a firm of trusted advisors and management consultants focusing on development and execution strategies to build and incubate value-based business ventures, innovations, initiatives, and forward technologies. We are dedicated to finding solutions for traditional business models or expanding into the growing arenas of impact investing, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and philanthropy venture capital.

About Organization: CLC Advisors, LLC is a firm of trusted advisors and management consultants focusing on development and execution strategies to build and incubate value-based business ventures and innovation. We work with global businesses, government institutions and organizations in both the private, public, and social sectors. Whether it is through thorough analysis, streamlining or restructuring for our clients’ needs, we are dedicated to finding solutions for business models to expand into the growing arenas of impact investing, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and philanthropy venture capital.

With our network partners we connect our clients with investment funds, PE firms, hedge funds & venture capitalists who are looking for impact opportunities and alternative investments. Global leaders who have a deep understanding & compassion for social responsibility, business growth and the triple bottom line: social, environmental and economic returns for broader economic growth.

We provide advisory services in innovation, leadership and management expertise for private and public companies in addition to NGOs, think tanks and philanthropic institutions. We believe that leadership is crucial to the direction of companies and invest time in assisting with strengthening teams for strategic expansion as an incubator for growing companies, creative business sectors and new ideas or concepts. In the growing field of philanthropy venture capital, we step into new and unchartered territory by bridging the gap between the humanities and the finance world. Execution is key.

What inspired you to start this organization?

CLC Advisors, LLC was started based on the ideas of creating social impact during the downturn of philanthropy and capitalism over seven years ago during the midsts of the U.S. capital market crisis. I had a deep interest in what the future of jobs and sustainability efforts would look like. I realized that philanthropy was not enough in order to sustain non-profit institutions or social impact initiatives. A new asset class and industry was being born.

What is strategy? “In essence, choosing a unique and valuable position rooted in systems of activities that are more difficult to match in the economic basis of competitive advantage to the level of the specific activities a company performs.” Since that time, we have grown by focusing on strategic advisory and capital investment work to bring to fruition ideas, creating solutions and products by leveraging the alliance of people and talent in science, technology, the arts and public policy/political roles in both the for profit and non-profit worlds. We have a portfolio of projects across several social impact areas in private and public sector collaborations.

Goal. My goal is to help people mobilize and deploy private resources, including money, time, social capital and expertise, to improve the world in which we live. It is one of my personal measurements for success.

What is the next big step you hope to help your organization reach?

Large-scale advisory projects and initiatives. I prefer idea and conception strategies on how to grow companies or start them and then scale. The projects I’m passionate about focus on specific companies, partners, and startups that are in the aerospace, STEM, climate change, environment, energy, and sustainability areas, but we have also taken on projects in the arts, music or film. In the past seven years, our reach has crossed borders and oceans to Western Europe, Africa, MENA, East Asia and the Pacific, Southeast Asia, and South America. We are growing our portfolio and work in the Nordic countries, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa. I would love to do a project with NASA’s or CERN’s innovation hubs and leverage their research and development into a private sector business or company. Also, some thing in the area of healthcare and safety. It has been on my vision board for over five years now.

Women entrepreneurs. We also have a strong interest in investing and mentoring women entrepreneurs. Venture funds now look for women entrepreneurs and diversity. After McKinsey Global Institute study and IMF research reports showed that advancing gender equality, meaning the advancement of women, can increase the annual global GDP (growth domestic product) by $12 trillion, or 11%, by 2025. The public, private, and social sectors need to act to close the gender gaps. In a full potential scenario where women play an identical role in labor markets to that of men, as much as $28 trillion or 26 percent could be added to global annual GDP by 2025.

Mentorship. Mentorship is key to help young entrepreneurs grow their businesses. I would not be where I am today with the support of a wide network of people and their generosity and wisdom. Don’t only pay it forward, also pay it back.

What has been your biggest obstacle as an entrepreneur?

In the beginning, the biggest obstacle was convincing investment firms the vision, economical, and financial impact of social entrepreneurship and for-purpose companies. Most investors were only interested in alpha revenue business models and a singular bottom line, not a triple bottom line. With the expansion and growth of social entrepreneurship like Big Society Capital’s initial investment fund of £600 Million and Goldman Sachs’ social impact bond in the criminal justice system, investment firms and corporations have since realized the importance of social responsilibity in their growth and corporate strategies.

What advice would you give other emerging entrepreneurs?

I’ve learned many lessons, but the most important are patience, perseverance, and an absolute belief in your vision. Invest in yourself through knowledge acquisition, build your network by surrounding yourself with the best talented minds, and know that experience is often underrated so don’t always go for the quick return or solution. There is a quote from Mark Suster who said, “Lemons ripen early. Great companies take time.” I have more of a Warren Buffet approach to business than probably most investors. I like to build companies that will last more than 25 years that pay dividends.

This post was originally published on the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit Publication here and on our Medium account here.

On Sunday, 27 September, 2015, twenty-eight amateur and professional astronomers and photographers ranging from ages 5 to 65 descended upon the English countryside in Salisbury, UK, to the Stonehenge monument in Amesbury. The reason for this occasion that has been occurring for the past twelve years was to view the full moon rise amongst the stones.

Autumn Supermoon rise at Stonehenge. Salisbury, UK.

Since 2002, Pete Glastonbury has been organizing this special access event to view the full moon risings for the last 12 years. The first was a special commission for Stonehenge that included renowned archaeoastronomers Professor Gerald Hawkins, Professor Vance Tiede and Professor Hubert Allen. Fast-forward a dozen years and we have English Heritage’s steward Simon Banton as unofficial guide and new generations of astronomers.

Pete Glastonbury

This year wasn’t any regular autumn full moon rise, but a “super moon” coinciding with a blood full moon in combination with a total lunar eclipse later in the evening. This phenomenon has not occurred in more than 30 years, the last occurring in 1982, and the next one expected in 2033. The perigee full moon, when the moon is closest to the earth (approximately 31,000 miles closer), was fully visible rising from the stone circle of Stonehenge and our group of astronomers were ready with their cameras and tripods to capture the moment as the sun was seen setting directly behind them.

Sunset at Stonehenge Circle, 27 September, 2015

Lunar eclipses typically occur about twice a year when the Earth’s shadow blankets the moon from the sun. Modern-day scientists and astronomers can predict eclipses many centuries into the future and the stones at Stonehenge were constructed in a fashion that in ancient times communities were using their own methods to predict such occurrences. This fourth and final eclipse of a lunar tetrad was also called the “blood moon” as the moon appears in a reddish-orange brown during full lunar eclipse.

Supermoon rise at Stonehenge Circle

According to Simon Banton, a steward of English Heritage who led this group into the inner circle of the stones, the builders of Stonehenge were astonishing engineers. “Someone conceived the design of the structure as an architect. There are many hundreds of stone circles in Britain alone. Stonehenge was built with stones designed to fit into other stones. Two uprights and one across the top of the stones.”

The winter solstice sunset signifies the end of one cycle and the beginning of another cycle. The only unarguable alignment of Stonehenge in the way it was built in the direction facing the winter solstice with a progression in height: Two small, two medium, and one large, increasing in height. Entering the temple is most impressive is what’s facing, framing, or from the heel stone.

British-born American archaeoastronomer Gerald Hawkins first proposed that Stonehenge was an an ancient astronomical observatory that was used to predict the movements of the stars and sun. Using an early-model IBM 7090 computer, Hawkins entered the positions of the standing stones and other features of Stonehenge to model the movements and positions of the sun and moon using the positions of 56 holes as markers for the moon and sun to calculate the nodes of lunar orbit twice a day in a 28-day cycle.

One of the 56 Aubrey holes at Stonehenge.

With modern-day technology in archaeoastronomy, science is able to replicate and predict the accuracy of the stones at Stonehenge to measure the lunar orbits and seasons and their relevance even today. As space science outreach and retired teacher Chris Starr, 62, from Somerset said, “The experience of watching the moonrise was once in a lifetime, the sharing of a common experience from today, and what the ancients witnessed. Sharing a sense of wonder and a common thread. Stonehenge is an observatory built by some really smart ancestors. Even emerging from the plains of East Africa. It must have been quite a spectacle for our ancestors.”

Somerset’s Chris Starr at Stonehenge examining Bluestones.

Todd Howard, 40, another Stonehenge participant who was introduced to these outings through SpaceFest channels, pondered on the construction of Stonehenge. “It was built by intelligent people with astronomical awareness. Too many things that don’t line up to be a full observatory, but it had a huge social element to it,” as people traveled as far as Scotland to feast and celebrate the beginning of the new year.

Todd Howard

The furthest participant to travel was astrophotographer Jeanette Lamb, 52, who came all the way from Queensland, Australia, for the first time. She has entered local astronomy competitions and has been awarded prizes for her photographs of the night sky and stars. “I cried when the moon rose over the stones. The history and privilege of being allowed at Stonehenge to view the moon rise is amazing. When you live in a country where there is no astronomical society, online communities bring astronomers and space scientists together. The online community is making our world smaller.” Indeed it is.

Astrophotographer Jeanette Lamb. Photo credit: Amjad Zaidi.

For more on the documentary Pete Glastonbury and Silent Earth are currently filming, including the work of Professor Gerald Hawkins here.